How time flies, the saying goes. That will be correct when describing the Audio Visual Rights Society of Nigeria (AVRS), which seems like it was only birthed yesterday.
In a statement to mark the first anniversary, Chairman of AVRS, Mahmood Ali-Balogun, said the wanton exploitation of intellectual property rights in Nigeria and the unrelenting struggle by rights owners to confront such abuse have necessitated the establishment of copyright Collective Management Organisations (CMOs).
“Fortunately, the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) has been on the same page with rights owners in this struggle, hence its approval of Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) and Reproductive Rights Society of Nigeria (REPRONIG) few years ago as CMOs for musical works and sound recordings, and literary works respectively,” Ali-Balogun stated.
Encouraged by the successes recorded by earlier mentioned CMOs, he said, the NCC announced in October 2014 that it had approved AVRS to function as the sole CMO for cinematograph films in Nigeria, upon the satisfaction of the NCC and the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation that the promoters of the new CMO had met all necessary conditions required for the establishment of a CMO.
He explained that this was pleasing news to stakeholders.
On November 20, 2014, Ali-Balogun said, history was made as the AGF formally presented the certificate of approval of AVRS to its board members at a ceremony organised by NCC in Abuja.
AVRS has embarked on series of stakeholders’ meetings across the country to further enlighten stakeholders in the film industry on the purpose, nature and operations of the new CMO, as well as their obligations to the Society, with a view to establishing cordial working relationships with various stakeholders in the film industry.
“The meetings brought an unprecedented boost to the membership of AVRS. The sensitisation drive also afforded AVRS the opportunity to interact with some major commercial users of audio visual works, including Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON), on their obligations to the Society,” Ali-Balogun stated.
To consolidate on the immediate benefits of the stakeholders’ meetings, and preparatory to the commencement of actual licensing and distribution of royalties in line with its core approval mandate, AVRS has been in the process of continuous public enlightenment, membership data analysis and documentation, capacity building training for its directors and key management staff, as well as strategic partnership building within and outside the country to further boost its capacity to manage the rights of its members whose works are massively exploited in Nigeria and beyond.
Presently, AVRS can boast of an authoritatively large repertoire of audio visual works by hundreds of its members across the country. The society is also firming up memoranda of understanding (MOU) and agreements for reciprocal representations with sister CMOs and organisations such as the Ugandan Federation of Movie Industry (UFMI), Audio Visual Rights Society of Ghana, Copyright Society of Botswana (COSBOTS), Copyright Society of Malawi (COSOMA) and the Anti-Counterfeiting Agency of Kenya, among others.
“Still in pursuit of the primary objective of ensuring global protection of Nigerian audio visual contents, AVRS has equally initiated high level discussions with relevant international organisations such as the France-based Confederation of International Societies of Authors and Composers (or Confederation Internationale des Societes d’Auteurs et Compositeurs, CISAC), the Geneva-based Association of International Collective Management of Audio Visual Works (or Association de Gestion Internationale Collective des Oeuvres Audiovisuelles, AGICOA), and the Motion Picture Licensing Corporation (MPLC) based in the United States,” he said.
He explained that with strong international alliances, accreditations and endorsements, AVRS shall not only guarantee global copyright protection and payments for the works of its members in due course, but also achieve the assignment of the International Standard Audio Visual Number (ISAN) for its members’ works.
ISAN is a peculiar identification number similar to the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) for books, which makes for seamless identification and tracking of audio visual works globally.
What is more, AVRS is set to begin the licensing for use of audio visual works from the first quarter of 2016.
“I would like to urge members of the public, particularly persons and organisations whose businesses and operations involve the commercial use of audio visual content, such as broadcasting stations, cable transmitting and re-transmitting companies, advertising agencies, hotels, telecoms companies, hospitals, restaurants and relaxation spots, transport companies including luxury bus operators, airlines and airports facility managers, banks, super markets and chain retail outlets, barbershop and hairdressing salons, etc, to cooperate with us and meet their copyright obligations in line with extant laws,” Ali-Balogun, who is grateful for the cooperation AVRS has so far received from government, corporate bodies and individuals, said.
